A Stalker's Desire: Casey
by KristinaDelRossiCullen
Summary: Hi, Casey." Who is it? Why are they doing this? Casey has a stalker. Is it just a crush, or something serious? Scared and confused, Casey and Derek have to depend on each other to find out who's doing this, before someone gets hurt...too late. DASEY.
1. It's no big deal

"DEREK!" George called up the steps, checking his watch anxiously.

"I'M BUSY!" He yelled back, the music seeping from his closed room blaring.

"TOO BAD! COME DOWN, NOW!" He shouted, checking the watch for the fiftieth time.

Derek was hopping down the stairs in a matter of seconds, and had claimed his chair quickly. Casey, Lizzie, and Edwin had plopped onto the couch.

"Now, we've decided to finally take that dream honeymoon that we've been dying to go on since our wedding day." George started, and Derek rolled his eyes. He could already tell this weekend would be a snoozer.

"Yay! Where are we going?" Marti leapt up from where she was coloring in front of the TV.

"Um, no, Marti, dear. Your daddy meant 'we' as in him and I. No kids allowed, understand?" Nora said gently.

Marti pouted. "Then what are _we _going to do?" She whined, stomping a bunny-slipper-clad foot.

"I was getting to that." George continued, glancing at his watch again. "While we're away, since it _is_ April vacation, Marti, you'll be spending two days at the Davis's, then grandma is going to come pick you up." He said, looking hopefully at the seven-year-old.

Her face lit up, and he looked slightly relieved. Lizzie piped up. "What about us? You know, us, the constantly forgotten middle children?" She rolled her eyes.

"Right. Well, Edwin, Teddy's parents have offered to take you for a few days, then you'll go to grandmas with Marti."

Lizzie waved her hands over her head. "And me? I do still exist, you know!"

"Alright, Lizzie. You'll be spending the entire week with your father!" George smiled as Lizzie's face broke into a wide grin.

"Yes!" She pumped her fist and dashed up the stairs to grab the suitcase Nora packed for her. Edwin followed suit to grab his hand-me-down duffel bag, and Marti scurried after them to drag down her small purple suitcase.

Casey smiled to herself. "Mom, George. Does that mean...?"

Derek's eyes widened happily.

George gave them each a stern look and Nora said, "You two will be spending the week here, because we need someone to look after and clean the house. But there are rules. For Derek."

Derek groaned and Casey grinned, knowing this would be a cinch.

"Number one rule is NO parties. Got it, Derek?" She frowned at him as he sighed in surrender.

"No friends over. Food money is on the counter, but we've just stocked the fridge. My number, Georgie's number, and the number of the hotel we're staying in is taped to the fridge. Be good, okay?" She said, sounding mildly exasperated.

All of the kids were lined up, ready to go an hour later.

"Bye Smerek! Watch Daphne for me, okay?" Marti kissed Derek, clinging to his arm.

He chuckled. "Will do, Smarti. Have fun."

"Bye Casey! Bye Derek! I love you both!" Nora kissed Casey, and Derek allowed her to kiss his cheek, and they were gone.

It was 7PM, so Casey headed upstairs to finish some extra-credit English work.

She was content typing up the final paragraph of her essay, when a 'ping!' was heard from her IM screen.

'**Hi, Casey. How are you this evening?' **It was from an unknown screen name. Literally, the SN was "Unknown".

'_Um, hi. Who is this?' _She quickly responded, gazing at the screen.

'**Just someone. I saw you at school today. You looked beautiful, as usual.'**

Casey blinked in surprise. _'Ummm, thank you. But seriously. Who is this? I don't usually talk with people who I don't know, I'm sorry.'_

'**It's a secret. It always will be.'** And with that, they abruptly signed off.

Casey's eyes darted around, and suddenly her door banged open.

"Um, knock much?" Casey refused to give him the satisfaction of turning around, so she forced her eyes to remain glued on the computer screen. It was difficult though.

"Um, work much? Why in the world must you _work_ on a vacation? Do you _possess _an actual life?" Derek taunted, leaning on her doorframe.

Casey clenched her jaw and kept typing.

So Derek tried harder. "I mean, it's one thing being a good student. It's another to be completely obsessed with schoolwork! Are you capable of having a good time?" He continued.

Casey's jaw dropped. How dare he? This was taking it too far. She swiveled in her chair, and jumped to her feet.

"Who the hell do you think you are, Derek Venturi? At least I concentrate on my work and I don't resort to stupid, slackadaisical ways like you do!" She strode forward, advancing on Derek, jabbing his broad, toned chest with he finger, knocking him off-balance for a moment.

"And in case you were wondering?" she continued maliciously, "I do have a life, which I pride myself for keeping you out of, thank you very much!"

It was then she realized how close they were. Her torso was pressed against his, staring into his hypnotizing brown eyes.

She panted, partly from her raging rant. Partly from...something else. She couldn't place her finger on it.

She felt her gaze stuck on his, a magnetic pull drawing them both to each other.

Derek suddenly jumped back, and pushed past her to her computer desk. She silently peered over his shoulder, reevaluating her conversation with this mysterious person.

He laughed, but she caught a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Who is this, Casey?" He smiled in false amusement.

"Obviously I don't know. I guess it's just a secret admirer. It's no big deal, Derek." She rolled her eyes, refusing to admit that this conversation had shaken her up as well.

Derek reread it.

He smirked, and decided to scare Casey a bit. She was an easy target, after all.

"Well, I'd be careful if I was you..." He started, sounding innocent.

She cocked her head and stared at him. "Um, why?"

"You've never seen the movies?" He feigned shock and looked at her.

She shook her head silently.

"It always starts out like this. A harmless secret admirer, nothing more. A few cutesie IM's, some adooorable notes or flowers taped to the outside of the girls locker, if they're really serious, a phone call from an untraceable number...But then the admirer's not seeing progress. He gets needier. The notes and IM's start saying creepy things. And then, the admirer will see the girl flirting, or kissing her boyfriend. And then...BAM!" Derek shouted, Casey jumping, and suppressed a laugh.

"He gets jealous. And serious things start happening.--"

Casey trembled a bit, but forced herself to laugh at Derek. "Please, spare me. Let me guess. The girls friends, her enemies, and her hot, jock of a boyfriend all end up dying, until there's no on left to protect her, right?" She rolled her eyes.

"Exactly." Derek grinned frighteningly. "Good luck with your _admirer._" He turned to leave, scaring Casey to a satisfactory measure.

But suddenly a thought occurred to him, and he turned back.

"But Casey? Promise me one thing." He said catching her gaze, his tone deadly serious.

She nodded. "If it does, you know, get creepier...tell me, alright?" Casey was confused by the note of concern in his voice, but she promised.

Satisfied, Derek sauntered out.


	2. What's going on?

Casey woke up the next morning as the sun was rising. She'd always been an early riser.

She hurried to dress and brush her hair, and went down to the kitchen, making breakfast for herself and Derek.

As she ate her eggs, she mulled over what Derek had said to her last night. _It's just a harmless crush._ She reasoned.

She took a deep breath and laughed at herself. "Nothing worth getting worried over, Casey." She said to herself sternly.

Derek appeared in the doorway, startling her. He laughed in her face.

"Talking to yourself again, Case? C'mon, get your stuff, I'll drive you down to the Loony Farm." He grinned and immediately devoured the eggs and bacon Casey had set out for him.

She rolled her eyes. "Good morning to you too, Derek."

Casey strode into the living room, and switched from the depressing News Channel Six (like every morning) and was delighted to see that her favorite teen drama show, Degrassi, was on.

She was intently watching Manny Santos sob hysterically when Derek barged in and snatched the remote from the arm of the couch.

"De-rek! Go away!" She whined, glaring at him, but he ignored her, and switched the channel to some horror film.

"I don't even know why you waste your time with that mushy-gushy drama crap." He said flatly, grinning at the start of some creepy soundtrack on the movie.

"Ugh!" Casey didn't feel like arguing with him so early, so she went back upstairs to shower.

While she was in the shower, Derek decided it would be fun to mess around on Casey's computer. He signed on to her screen name.

An IM immediately popped up.

**Hello again, Casey. What took you so long to sign on this morning? I know you got up early today...**

Derek's eyes widened a bit. How the hell did this freak know _that_?

_Um, yeah, sorry. Uh, how did you know I got up early? _Derek wrote back, mildly annoyed at her swirly-girly font.

**) I know a lot about you.**

And just like that, he'd signed off.

Derek breathed out slowly, and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. This was seriously screwed up. What was with this freak? He heard the shower turn off, and he rushed out of Casey's room.

Casey came in a few seconds later when she saw that there was an IM on her screen. From Unknown.

She read it slowly, felt her breath hitch in her throat. It said:

**Casey-**

**I will wait for you. But not forever. For now, I'll tend to your every desire.**

**P.S. Tell Derek to stay off your screen name. I don't like it when he talks to me. And I don't want to have to do something to make him regret.**

She breathed out shakily.

"Casey, I was just wondering, could you--?" Derek barged in again, but stopped mid-sentence after seeing a trembling Casey.

"What's the matter?" He said slowly. She pointed at the screen.

He clenched his fists, eyes racing across the screen.

He reread it twice, then turned to Casey, who was shaking. "Casey," He started, "This is a joke. A big practical joke. I honestly wouldn't worry about it." He tried his best to sound reassuring.

He saw her blue eyes sparkling with tears, and immediately was both panicked and angered.

"Casey..." He had no idea of what to say, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

She suddenly flung herself at him, shocking him thoroughly. "Uh...Casey? Are you...you know...okay?" He tried awkwardly, patting her on the back.

She pulled back, wiping her eyes. "I'm okay. And I know you're just saying that cause you want me to stop crying."

He rubbed the back of his neck, and straightened up, nervous-coughing.

"Yeah. That's it. Well...I'll be in my room." Derek left Casey, shutting the door to his room quickly, and lying on his bed shakily, heart racing.

_What the hell? This is Casey. Why do I suddenly care? Oh God...No. It can't be. I don't like Casey McDonald._

But somewhere in the back of his mind, a little voice nagged him, saying, _Who are you kidding, Venturi?_


	3. Crash and Burn

Casey had a headache. An aching headache that was killing her.

And it was all because of the stupid little boy across the street. He and his stupid little friends had been pranks calling ALL MORNING. It was driving her up the wall!

.

She headed downstairs, rubbing her throbbing temples. "Ugh!" She shouted, holding a pillow over her face.

"I HATE those stupid little kids!" She yelled into the pillow.

Derek walked downstairs a few minutes later.

"Hey Spacey. You wanna go to Smelly Nelly's? I can't put up with that freaking phone anymore. I'll kill myself if they call one more time."

She looked up at him. "Absolutely. Let me grab my coat." She rushed upstairs, heart racing.

_Stop it, Casey. Why are you feeling this way? He's Derek!_ But in the back of her mind, locked away in that girly, lovey-dovey part of her mind, a voice was saying, _He's so cute! And he was so nice last night!_

"Casey! Come on, I'm starving!" Derek's voice called upstairs, and Casey snatched her coat from the closet, rolling her eyes. Would it kill him to be a little more patient?

She deliberately took her time going downstairs, and she saw Derek, who was visibly annoyed, flicking through channels.

"Finally! Jeez, why do chicks take so long to get ready? We're only going down the street!" Derek complained, switching off the TV.

"Sorry everyone isn't as punctual as you, Oh Great Derek. Let's go." Casey said, heading out the door.

Derek rolled his eyes and mocked Casey silently behind her back, which she saw. "Mature."

He hopped into the drivers side, and the drove silently to Smelly Nelly's.

As soon as they arrived, Casey saw Derek's jaw visibly clench. He'd spotted Sally.

She was clearly on break, and she was flirting with some guy in front of the counter. Casey watched her take the guys hand, and write something with her pen, presumably her number.

She had no idea what made her do it, but Casey grabbed Derek's hand for a split second, squeezing it gently.

Derek whipped to face her, and the almighty cool, calm, and collected Derek turned a light shade of pink, the corners of his mouth turning up.

Casey, on the other hand, turned crimson, and quickly let go. _Why did I just do that? _She wondered in her mind, her heart pounding from his touch. _But it was actually kind of...nice. NO! Casey, stop! _She ordered herself, and followed Derek to a booth.

Sally quickly popped up to take their order. Derek averted his eyes.

"Hi Casey, hi Derek." Sally grinned. "How's everything?"

Casey forced a smile, for the first time, feeling bad for Derek.

"It's good, Sally." Casey said coolly.

Sally didn't notice her tone. "How's, oh what was his name...right! How's Max, Casey?"

Casey glanced at Derek, who for some reason had stiffened at the mention of Max. "Um, I actually broke up with him."

Sally smiled sympathetically, "Things not working out how you planned?" Casey saw Sally's eye flick to

Derek for a fraction of a second.

Casey nodded and tentatively said, "So, who did you just give your number?"

Sally's face split into a wide grin, and Derek coughed a little. "His name's Jake. He's so sweet! Turns out that he's having a party this weekend, and he wanted me to be his date. Isn't that cute? He came here to give me flowers and ask me." You could tell Sally had been bursting to tell someone the news.

Casey forced another smile. "That's great Sally. So...could we order now, or are you still on break?"

Sally's smiled faded. "Oh...sure. What do you want?"

Casey glanced at Derek, and saw that he was completely spaced out, so she decided to order for him. "One Veggie Burger with a small Sprite, and one Double Cheeseburger with a large Coke, and a side of fries. Please."

Sally raised her eyebrows at Casey's ordering for Derek, and she leaned close to Casey.

"Are youandDerek goingout now?" She whispered in Casey's ear.

Casey choked on her complimentary water.

"N-no! Absolutely not! What made you think that?" Casey managed through coughs, Derek looked up, at last.

"Casey, are you alright?" He asked, referring to her non-stop coughs.

She nodded, and had another sip of water.

Sally smirked. "_That's _what made me think it." And walked away.

Casey furrowed her brow. _What was that supposed to mean?_

Derek tore up a napkin absentmindedly.

Casey stared at him. "Are you okay?" She asked, watching him tear up the napkin.

"Why would I not be okay?" Derek said, clearly forcing himself to look her in the eye. Casey noticed that his voice just barely cracked a little.

"Well...you didn't exactly _talk _when Sally came over." Casey explained, as if telling something to a two-year-old.

"That's because me and Sally don't exactly _talk _to each other. Too bad I can't say the same thing about you and I."

_Sally and I._ Casey mentally corrected him, but she didn't think it was the time to correct him out loud, seeing as he was in such a nasty mood.

She didn't blame him, though. Things with Sally hadn't exactly gone well.

"Anyway, it's none of your business who I talk to." He finished. Casey's head snapped up.

"Then why is it any of your business who _I _talk to?" She countered, immediately firing up.

Derek's expression was confused. "What're you talking about? I don't care who you associate with! Go party it up with the Math Club for all I care!"

Casey's eyes flashed. "Oh, really, Derek? You don't care? Then why did you make me promise to tell you everything my secret admirer says to me?"

She stared unblinking at Derek, watching him turn that shade of pink again. "That's different."

"How so?" She argued.

"Cause you don't actually know this dude!"

Casey sat back. He had her there, and he knew it, because the pink faded, his signature smirk took over his face, and he crossed his arms across his chest.

And idea popped into her head. "Why do you care?"

Derek's head snapped up to look at her, and his smug look slid off his face. "I--"

"Food's here!" Sally had returned with their orders. She slid their dishes in front of them, and Casey thanked her, forgetting instantly the conversation, as she looked from Derek to Sally.

Sally was staring at Derek.

Casey kicked him under the table.

"Ow! Yeah...thanks Sally." He muttered, avoiding her eyes.

She smiled warmly. "Anytime. Enjoy, guys." And she departed.

Derek glared at Casey. "Why'd you kick me?" He whined, digging into his burger.

Casey spared him a disgusted look. "Because you were being rude." She stated simply, spreading a napkin over her lap.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Princess."

Half an hour later, they were on their way home, bickering about who-knows-what.

Suddenly, three fire trucks, two police cars, and an ambulance rushed by, sirens blaring.

Derek's brow furrowed. "That's weird. They're heading down our street. Casey? You didn't leave the stove or something on, right?" He said, looking at her panicked. She looked equally panicked.

"No. Of course not! It can't be our house. Hopefully it's not the Davis's!"

Derek sped up, anxious to see what the commotion was.

Casey's jaw dropped. "Oh, my..." She breathed.

Derek's eye widened, and he pulled into the driveway. "Holy shit..."

They leapt out of the car, unable to take their eyes of the sight that met them across the street.

The Fisher's house, across the street was burning to a crisp. It was black and falling to pieces, burning chunks of splintering, blackened wood falling onto the singed, brown lawn.

Neighbors from all over were peering out of their houses, shocked by the sight that met their eyes.

Derek grabbed Casey's arm suddenly, pulling her away from the house, which the firefighters were currently spraying down with heavy jets of water.

Casey let Derek lead her into the house. She started up the stairs when he called her back. Casey turned around.

"Are you..." He started. He rubbed his neck, obviously feeling awkward.

"Are you gunna...you know...be okay? Up in your room? Do you wanna, I don't know...Stay down here? In the living room?"

Casey managed a smile, but shook her head. "I'm okay...thanks Derek."

She pushed open her bedroom door, and perched on the edge of her bed, dropping her coat carelessly to the carpet.

She flopped backwards onto the covers, when she felt something wet, right beneath her ear. Frowning, she sat up, and yanked back the blanket.

At that moment, Casey let loose a scream so terrible, Derek was up the stairs in three seconds flat.

"Casey! What the hell? What--What the fuck!" He stared open-mouthed at the bed. Casey covered her mouth. She was stunned, horrified.

There, on Casey's pale pink sheets lay an arm. An ARM! A little boys arm...Oh God.

Tears flowed openly down Casey's pale cheeks, and Derek couldn't stop gawking at the single arm.

"There's a note..." He whispered, and Casey noticed through blurred vision that his hand trembled slightly as he reached to retrieve it from Casey's dry pillow.

It read:

_Casey-_

_I doubt he'll be able to dial you again._

_-Your Admirer_

It was typed neatly in Courier font, and Derek could tell that this freakshow hadn't touched it, so even if they were crazy enough to go to the cops, they wouldn't find any fingerprints.

"I--" Casey started, then her eyes went wide, and she blacked out, falling onto the floor with a soft thud.

Derek rushed to her side and hoisted her up bridal-style.

He hesitated, then brought Casey to his room, making her comfortable under the messy covers.

He ran a hand through his messy hair, and breathed slowly. "Venturi, what are you getting yourself into?"

He said to himself, smiling softly at the angel lying before him.

Now for that body part...


	4. Don't you hate prank calls?

Casey had just woken up, and realized she was in Derek's room.

Furrowing her brow, she sat up, and looked around, when it hit her. Yesterdays events...the house...the little boy's arm...

She's slept away the rest of the day.

She checked Derek's digital clock. 8:00 AM.

She walked out of Derek's room and padded tentatively into her own.

She chanced a glance at her bed, and saw to her surprised that someone had changed the sheets, and her blanket was folded sloppily on the floor.

Had Derek hired a maid while she was asleep?

She made her way downstairs, and saw Derek sitting in his chair, concentrating on the morning news.

Casey silently sat on the couch, and Derek acknowledged her with a curt nod. They turned back to the TV.

"_...And just last evening a house was burned down, location was..."_

Casey winced. The Fisher's. Oh God, were they okay?

"_The inhabitants of the home, the Fisher's, are in critical condition in the Toronto Community Hospital, and it has been confirmed that the youngest of the family, a seven year old boy named Joey, suffered third degree burns and was found dead at eleven PM last evening. Police say that it is likely that the boy had fallen asleep in the fenced-in backyard, where the fire took place, and it was confirmed that the back door was locked. The young boy was thus unable to climb the six foot fence, and was stranded and severely burned, the strange part was, that Joey was missing his left arm. His older sister, a thirteen year old girl by the name of Claire was carried out of the house by a local firemen. It was reported that she was found passed out on the floor in front of the back door, most likely from smoke fumes, and had blisters and burns covering her hands. News on the mother and father have been unannounced. Questions about whether the fire was intentional or not are still to be answered..."_

Casey turned horror-struck to Derek, who had flicked off the television, but seemed unable to tear his eyes from the blank screen.

Unable to stop the tears, they flowed down Casey's face as she stood. "That was completely intentional, Derek! That means this freak could be anywhere! That means he was listening to me in the morning screaming about the prank calls! T-that mean he was in our house...In my room!

Casey broke down into sobs, and just as Derek had stood again with means to comfort her, the phone rang.

Derek covered his action of moving towards her by grabbing the phone.

"Derek speaking. What's up?" He answered.

Casey wiped her face and smiled.

Derek grinned at making her smile, but the grin slid off his face in a second. He put the message on speaker. It was that little boy's voice. The one that had been calling all yesterday morning.

"Is your refrigerator running? THEN YOU BETTER GO CATCH IT!" The squeaky, high voice rung through the living room.

"How many hands does it take to dial?" The high-pitched voice suddenly dropped lower. Someone else was on the line now. Their voice was raspy and menacing.

"Just one." They whispered.

Derek took the phone off speaker, and growled into the phone, "It only takes one hand to choke a guy to death too."

Casey's eye were wide, her jaw dropped.

Maniacal laughter was heard over the line, and it suddenly went dead.

"He has our number Derek! He's a psycho! A psycho..." She started crying again, falling into Derek.

Derek stared down at her. This situation had turned into so much more than he'd expected. For some reason, he felt partially responsible. What the hell? In two days...no, one day, he'd lost his It-wasn't-me attitude, and actually felt responsible! This was psycho.

Derek maintained his role as Mr. Cool for abot three seconds, before he thought, to hell with it. He held her tight, stroking her dark hair, letting her soak his T-shirt, when all of a sudden, the phone rang again.

Casey turned to it fearfully. Derek snatched it off the speaker and immediately snarled into it, "If this is--Oh! Hey Smarti!"

Casey looked considerably relieved, and attempted to wipe off her puffy face.

"Oh, no. I wasn't yelling at you, I thought it was those...those annoying boys down the road that keep prank calling us. Uh-huh. Smarti? Are you okay?"

Casey looked up at Derek. She saw pain and sadness in his eyes.

"Shhh. I know Marti. I know. I'll miss Joey too. Yeah, Dimi's okay. No, his house isn't burned down. Okay. You can call him after. Huh? Oh, yeah. Casey's fine." He glanced at her, and she gave a watery smile.

"I love you too, Smarti. Yeah, you can talk to her." Derek pressed a hand against the mouthpiece.

"You okay?" He asked Casey gruffly, and she nodded, standing to take the phone.

"Hi, Marti!" She said brightly, sounding completely convincible. "Yes. I heard about Joey." She whispered.

"I know he was your friend. I'm sorry Marti." Casey sniffled into the phone. "Okay. I love you too. Bye."

Casey placed the phone on the receiver and turned to Derek.

Derek and Casey gazed at each other a long time.

"I'm scared, Derek." Casey whispered.

He placed his hands on her shoulders, electrifying her with his grip. "As long as I'm here, Casey, there's nothing to be afraid of." He said softly. _Nothing to lose, right? _He thought, explaining his actions to himself. _I'm just making her feel better, nothing more. I don't actually care...Who the hell am I kidding? I care more than anything. _

He battled with his mind, not realizing that Casey was still trapped under his hands.

"Thanks Derek. Um...Derek? You can let go now." She said giggling at last.

He flushed, removing his hands, grinning sheepishly. "I'll be in my room."

"No!" Without realizing, without thinking about it, she grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards her. "Stay with me."

Derek raised an eyebrow, and gave his signature Venturi smirk. "Anytime."

She blushed, and at that moment, Derek and Casey had formed an invisible bond. Everything seemed like it was going to be okay.

Until...

"Derek, I need the remote." Casey reached for it, but he held it high.

"Ha! Not a chance, Princess."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Der-ek! You are impossible!"

He grinned. _Music to my ears._


End file.
